Helping Hand
by NewVoice
Summary: Chad Dylan Cooper: Poster boy for suicidal teens. - It's been a while put here is another one-shot following my story That's The Way I loved You.


**A/N I know it's been a while since the last one but here is another TTWILY one-shot. I finally decided to write this last week after planning it along with the other two. Hopefully it doesn't seem to rushed, I think I lost my flare for writing.**

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**Helping Hand**

_'I can't believe I'm doing this.'_ Chad thought as he waited in a tiny brown room at the L.A Rec Center. _'Chad Dylan Cooper: Poster boy for suicidal teens.'_ He continued bitterly. From what Chad knew, a group of disturbed teens were in the mail hall of the building, waiting to hear Chad's story.

"Bunch of poser's probably…" Chad muttered. He still wasn't comfortable with the idea of telling a room full of strangers that he had jumped off a roof 6 months prior. He'd talking to Dr. Spritz since he had started having nightmares. For the most part they'd stopped, except for the occasional one that snuck through the barrier that Chad had built around his mind. But even after talking to the Doctor for 3 months, Chad was only just starting to completely open up. Chad's girlfriend, Sonny Monroe, was really the only one who could truly get inside of Chad's head. "Damn girl will be the death of me…" He chuckled darkly at his mutterings. It was Sonny who suggested Chad "prevent other's from being so dramatic." He'd fought with her on it but in the end she won, like always.

Chad loved Sonny more then anything else in the whole world, but he wasn't crazy about how she always managed to get her way.

"Chad, they're ready for you." Dr. Spritz, Chad's middle-aged balding therapist, poked his head through the door interrupting Chad's thoughts about Sonny.

Dr. Spritz was one of the many shrinks who had helped organize this whole event. Another reason why Chad was here. _'Teens helping teens. Personally, I think its more effective when you talk to each other and not some random stranger.'_ Of course the day Dr. Spritz mentioned it had been the one-day Sonny had come to meet Chad at the end of his session.

"Alright, I'm coming." Chad called. _It'll be over soon enough. It's just like talking to Dr S._ Chad tried to calm his nerves as he walked out of the safe haven of the little room and towards the room which held the group of people he was supposed to spill his heart out to.

The room was very large and very plain. Rows of fold out chairs faced a small stage with a shabby looking podium in the center. Every chair was filled with a teenager. Some looked scared, others angry, some perfectly calm and serene. Chad felt a stab of sympathy for them, because even thought they were all different they all had one thing in common. The reason why they were sitting in uncomfortable chairs, the reason why Chad was about to go on stage.

"Hello. Please settle down." Dr. Spritz was standing behind the podium, calling for attention. The almost non-existent chatter ceased immediately. "Thank you." The doctor continued. "Thank you for coming. I know it must be hard, but it's a good way to deal with your issues. Today is really just a seminar of sorts, others talking about what they have gone through. Hopefully you can look to each other for comfort and support in the future. I would like to introduce our first speaker, Charlie Wilson." For the next hour Chad listened to stories from other speakers; Charlie Wilson was being bullied at school, Natasha Blain's parents were going through a divorce, Matt Smith had been dumped by his girlfriend. With each story Chad heard he got more and more unsettled. There were so many things that could go wrong in someone life, it could have been happening to anyone, to someone he knew.

To someone he loved.

When it was finally Chad's turn to go up he was shaking. For the first time in his life, Chad Dylan Cooper had stage fright.

"Umm…" Chad looked desperately out at the audience. As if one of them could excuse him from this torture. All he saw were dozens of zombie-like faces, staring at him as if he had the answer. "Hi. I'm Chad Cooper." Chad continued. "And I'm just like you. I've had problems in my life, and they've led me to make some choices that I'm not proud of. I wanted an escape so I tried to take the easiest way out. Luckily for me I failed. But it made me realize how important it is to live your life and how valuable life itself is." Chad pause and looked into the crowd. What he saw were the zombie-like faces, but something had changed. There was hope in their eyes. "I could have easily thrown my life away. I realize now that there is never a reason bad enough for someone to do that. Because no matter how much it seems like your life is the worst out there, just remember that someone loves you. Someone would miss you. Someone could try to do the same. Thank you for your time." Chad backed away from the podium and tried to walk casually off the stage. The audience clapped politely. But Chad hardly registered any of it. Everything seemed blurred as he walked away. As soon as he was out of sight he broke into a run, not caring about where he was going. He didn't stop running until he ran into something, or someone.

"Oomph…Hey watch where you're going." A female voice said. Chad tried to push past but whoever was there was blocking him. "Are you alright?"

"No, now let me through." Chad said through clenched teeth. His speech had brought up old thoughts that he didn't want to revisit.

"No. Now tell me what's wrong? Was it your speech? I though it was…heartfelt." The girl said. Her voice sounded broken, even too Chad.

"Yeah yeah." Chad waved it off. He wiped his eyes so he could clearly see who was blocking him. She was a normal looking teenage girl. No weird piercings, no book of death poetry, just normal. He thought maybe she was volenteering to help with this wole thing.

"Really. I know it made a lot of people…reconsider."

"That's why I'm here. Too stop people from turning out like me." Chad laughed bitterly.

"Well then…thanks for the help." The girl began to walk away.

"Help with what?" Chad called after her. He had no idea what this random girl was talking about.

"For helping me realize that life may just be worth living." With that the girl turned and walked back towards the main hall, leaving a shocked Chad behind her.

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"So how was it today?" Sonny asked as Chad climbed into her truck. It was just after the seminar had finished. Chad had eventually made it back to listen to the rest of the speakers, with a whole new appreciation for what they were doing.

"Interesting." Chad gently kissed Sonny.

"How so?"

"I met this girl in the hall. She seemed like a normal teenager. Someone you'd expect to have lots of friends and get good grades. After I talked I bumped into her. She told me that I helped her see life was worth living." Chad said, still slightly confused about what had transpired in the hall.

"That's amazing! How'd it feel?" Sonny asked glancing at her boyfriend.

"I think I may ask Dr. Spritz if he's doing this again, it felt great to help."

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**A/N Cheesy ending yes. I really couldn't think of anything. I liked the idea but I don't think I got it across properly. Reviews make me happy :D**


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